In the private house, Bai Sheng led people to rummage through the boxes, but did not find any stolen money or evidence.
On the floor of Qin Hui's study room, where the book box pressed against it, there were traces of two new floor tiles.
A middle-aged official said: "These two floor tiles must be laid at the back, but they have not been touched for at least a year and a half."
This man was called Li Jiucheng. He was originally the son of a police officer in Nanzheng County. He had nothing to do and worked as a helper for the nobles in the city all day long.
When Hanzhong City was breached, his father took advantage of the opportunity to join the Zhu family and his son, but Li Jiucheng was discovered by Shi Yuangong to collect intelligence.
Now, Li Jiucheng is a doctor in the Military Intelligence Department of the Ministry of War, and this time he was temporarily seconded to help investigate the case.
Bai Sheng pointed to two floor tiles: "Pry them open and dig three feet into the ground!"
Nothing was found.
There were two servants in the house, both deaf and blinded old men. Bai Sheng couldn't ask anything at all.
On the other hand, more than a dozen neighbors were "invited", and they all stood in the courtyard fearfully.
Li Jiucheng left the study and asked, "Who has come in?"
The neighbors all shook their heads.
Li Jiucheng pointed to the two old servants and asked, "Who has dealt with them?"
Still everyone shook their heads.
In order to avoid exposing his whereabouts, the secret monitors sent by Ju Ming only occasionally wandered around Qin Hui from a distance and never entered Qin Hui's secret house.
It is not convenient for Ju Ming to talk about this kind of thing. Now the officials handling the case must investigate it themselves.
A neighbor cautiously said: "The two of them don't go out much except to buy charcoal, vegetables and salt. They can't hear what they say. They haven't seen each other in the past few years. It sounds like their accent is from Kaifeng."
Li Jiucheng continued to ask: "There are only two of them in this house?"
Another neighbor said: "When the imperial court first moved the capital, there was a young lady and an old woman. They didn't speak much, but they also talked to me. They claimed that they moved from Kaifeng and came to Luoyang with their husbands to do business.
.”
Immediately someone else took over the conversation: "It's definitely not business! Her husband is a bit old. Although he wears a hat every time he comes back and lowers the brim of the hat to cover half of his face, he can tell by the way he walks that he is doing business.
Official."
"It's just an official who moved here with the imperial court in moving the capital."
"Yes, yes, that little lady is the official's wife, and she even gave birth to a child!"
"The eldest wife in her family is probably a jealous woman and won't tolerate her husband taking concubines."
"..."
The neighbors were no longer afraid, and gradually opened up their chat boxes, and started gossiping.
Li Jiucheng asked: "How many days does the male owner of this house come here?"
Someone said: "Not necessarily. But every time I come here, I take a donkey cart with a cover. When I get off the cart, I open the door to enter the hospital and walk a few steps. I wanted to talk to him once, but he ignored me.
The courtyard door was closed as soon as you entered. You don't look like a good person at first glance. How can a good person cover his face when he wears a hat?"
Li Jiucheng asked many more questions, but was unable to obtain any further information.
When Bai Sheng saw Li Jiucheng winking at him, he immediately ordered his release and said to his neighbors: "You all go home, don't wander around, don't talk nonsense. If you think of anything suspicious, come and report to me immediately."
When they heard that they could leave, these people were completely relaxed.
Some people actually took the initiative to inquire: "May I ask my husband, what crime did this family commit? They actually hired the imperial city guards to arrest them."
"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask." Bai Sheng said with a straight face.
Li Jiucheng walked around the house, carefully observing clues along the way.
He stood at the door of a utility room, first looking at the copper lock that had been broken open by the soldiers, and then at the hoe that had been overturned during the search inside the house.
"Is there a problem here?" Bai Sheng asked.
Li Jiucheng pointed to the corridor outside the door: "General, please look here. Doesn't it look like you move around a lot? The moss on the stone path outside the corridor is very thick. Except for the fresh footprints of the guards, there are no other traces of movement."
Bai Sheng nodded: "It seems that those two old servants don't come here very often."
Li Jiucheng pointed to the utility room again: "There are some tools in the room. There are hoes, shears, flower pots... and the door is locked with a copper lock. If this is really Qin Hui's secret house, the two old servants
If you don’t come here often, are the things inside there used by Qin Hui?”
Bai Sheng said: "The Emperor likes farming and raising flowers, and many ministers also follow suit. Qin Hui is famous for learning farming, and he was praised by the Emperor when he was in Kaifeng. A corner of the small courtyard of this house has been set aside as a vegetable garden.
There are also many peonies planted in trays around. I think Qin Hui often came here to plant flowers."
Li Jiucheng said: "Qin Hui cultivates land and flowers, so naturally his servants are not allowed to touch..."
"dig!"
Before Li Jiucheng could finish speaking, Bai Sheng had already reacted and led his guards to dig the vegetable garden.
While digging, a guard shouted: "There is something!"
Bai Sheng was so happy that he grabbed the hoe and dug it himself, and soon dug out a corner of the wooden box.
Keep digging, keep digging.
A small wooden box was lifted out.
The old accounts of the past, along with many treasures, were all transferred by Qin Hui.
It was originally hidden under the floor tiles in the study room. Last year, Qin Hui used it to grow vegetables and buried them all in the vegetable garden.
This small box also had a lock, and Bai Sheng violently pried it open.
Inside the box were two objects wrapped in oil paper, layer after layer. Charcoal and lime were sprinkled on the bottom of the box to prevent moisture.
Bai Sheng opened the oil paper package and found a booklet inside.
It contains the year, month and day, as well as some names of people, places and numbers, as well as many names of goods.
Li Jiucheng watched for a while and said: "This is the account book. After the numbers, the word 'Guan' should be omitted. The names are all pseudonyms. Only Qin Hui knows who he refers to. The time and place names should be real, but the goods
It must be fake. The names of the goods may refer to a certain official position or a certain project."
"It's so mysterious that people can't understand it." Bai Sheng cursed.
Li Jiucheng reached out to turn the last page and said: "The most recent time was three years ago. This is the account book from three years ago. There should be some boxes that have not been dug out."
Bai Sheng ordered: "Keep digging and dig all over the vegetable garden."
Li Jiucheng went to unpack another oil paper bag in the box.
The treasure banknotes are all Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes!
Bai Sheng counted it and exclaimed: "It's a full 50,000 guan. They are old banknotes from previous years. There are no denominations of 500 guan. This bastard is greedy. Why doesn't he send it back to his hometown? Keep it.
In Luoyang, we can only respect the land master."
Very simple.
Qin Hui's parents died long ago and moved to Jiangning. There were no clan members there at all, only Qin Hui's uncle's family.
Several of Qin Hui's brothers were either admitted to the imperial examinations and became officials; or Qin Hui arranged for them to be transferred from official to official positions, and after being transferred to rank officials they had to be transferred to other places.
With no clansmen and no brothers, could Qin Hui send the money to Jiangning and hand it over to his uncle for safekeeping?
In the past two years, Qin Hui began to make arrangements for his funeral.
He sent his confidants to expand the dilapidated house in his hometown in Jiangning, and then asked his cousin to buy some land. He also asked one of his eldest brother's sons to return to Jiangning to take care of the emerging family business, so that from now on, his descendants can develop there with peace of mind.
People from their ancestral homeland often come to the capital to enjoy the autumn breeze.
Qin Hui lost his father when he was young and lived a difficult life. His mother once took her sons back to their ancestral home, but they did not get help from the tribe. Therefore, Qin Hui didn't like those tribesmen and stayed away from them for the first few times.
Later, he gradually thought about it, sent his confidants back to his ancestral home, and renovated the ancestral tombs and ancestral halls.
They also provide money to run schools and support the children of the family to study. To put it bluntly, they are engaged in long-term investment and slowly develop their own family power.
Neither his hometown nor his ancestral home spent much money, and most of the stolen money was left in the capital.
"I dug it again!"
Back and forth, twelve boxes were dug out.
Some boxes do not have ledgers, but they must contain money, totaling 650,000 yuan.
Bai Sheng went back to life with the evidence of the crime, and at the same time left some men behind: "You stay here and no one is allowed to come in or out. Keep digging and see if you can dig out more."
Bai Sheng entered the palace overnight.
Ju Ming looked at the treasure banknotes and account books and said with a smile: "In the official residence of the Minister of Revenue, several boxes were also dug out. There is also a box that was not buried in time. It is probably still in use. It is temporarily held down by two piles of books. There are also account books in it.
He Baochao. This Qin Hui has indeed learned his skills from the Supreme Emperor. At least he is very good at digging and plowing the ground, and he is not inferior to the old farmers in his work."
Bai Sheng came closer to the emperor: "This man is really hateful, but I dug up 650,000 coins!"
"Why, are you envious?" Zhu Ming said amusedly.
Bai Sheng quickly waved his hands to deny: "I have a title and an official position, and I can receive a salary from both of them. Officials often give rewards, so why do I need to take bribes?"
Ju Ming said: "Send it to Dali Temple."
Bai Sheng took the evidence of his crime and led a group of guards straight to Dali Temple.
Qin Hui is on trial and has pleaded not guilty, insisting that he only received some paintings and calligraphy gifts.
His close servants were also very stubborn and did not think that they could still serve the crime, so they hoped that Qin Hui could be acquitted.
But the concubines really didn’t know anything. Even the concubine who lived in the secret house had never entered Qin Hui’s study. It was also said that Qin Hui occasionally lived in the secret house and did nothing else besides reading and growing flowers and vegetables.
anything.
"I, Qin Hui, am the Minister of the Ming Dynasty. I walk upright and sit upright. Why should I fear Xiaoxiao's false accusations and bites?"
Qin Hui sat in the secret room and spoke with dignity.
The officials of the Third Law Department were not in a hurry. In addition to interrogating Qin Hui and his family, they also interrogated several of Qin Hui's current and former subordinates.
Sooner or later someone will be unable to bear it!
In the middle of the night, Bai Sheng suddenly arrived and threw out a pile of ledgers and treasure notes.
A total of more than 1.26 million coins were found in the two houses.
Moreover, according to the account book records, the further back in time, the faster Qin Hui's corruption rate, indicating that he became more and more corrupt and no longer so cautious.
The amount of stolen money in the past three years is more than the sum of the previous ten years!
If he continues to let things go for a few more years, it is estimated that Qin Hui can earn three to four million dollars.
"Qin Shangshu, you made me dig so hard. The Emperor can only harvest grain from farming, but you can grow Ming Dynasty treasures from farming!" Bai Sheng sneered.
Wei Liangchen, Pan Lianggui and others who were responsible for interrogating Qin Hui were frightened when they saw so many Ming treasure notes.
Looking at Qin Hui again, he found that the man had collapsed on the chair.
It's over, it's all over, everything buried in the ground has been dug out.
If only the unburied box was found, Qin Hui could have argued that the treasures inside were his savings over the years, and the account books were the business he had done secretly (although this was against the rules, he would only be dismissed from office at most, and Qin Hui did
Registered a business name as a front).
But more than one million yuan has been dug out, how the hell can you argue?
Everyone knows that Qin Hui was very poor when he was young. He was not from a prominent family, so it is unclear where the money came from.
Pan Lianggui quickly flipped through an account book and then threw it to Qin Hui: "Tell me, what kind of business is so profitable? There are many names and goods recorded in your account book. There are commercial and tax goods left in various places such as Hucao, Gongcao and banknote.
Files, maybe I can search the files to help you clear your grievances."
Qin Hui decided to take another gamble: "These are the money of the Wang family. When the Wang family was split up, many of their properties were gone, and they were afraid of being confiscated by the Ming Dynasty, so they entrusted the money to me for safekeeping. As for those account books, they are all
It's a random fabrication, and if the court investigates it, there will be a reason."
"More than one million coins, entrusted to you for safekeeping?" Wei Liangchen said with a smile.
Qin Hui said: "It was entrusted to me by the eldest brother of the Wang family. After he died of illness, I was greedy for the money, so I buried it in the ground and wanted to keep it for myself. None of the other brothers of the Wang family knew where the money went. Only my wife knew."
Pan Lianggui was speechless: "Do you think we are all fools? These account books of yours all have time written on them, and they have not been broken for more than ten years. Your wife's eldest brother is dead. Does it mean that his soul comes back to the world every month and divides the time?
Is the money entrusted to you for safekeeping?"
Qin Hui's mouth was dry and he didn't know how to explain it.
Pan Lianggui said: "Bring Wang here and make this guy give up completely."
Soon, Wang was brought to this room.
Pan Lianggui said: "More than one million yuan was dug out in Qin Hui's house. He said it was the property of the Wang family that your eldest brother entrusted for safekeeping. Do you know this?"
Qin Hui had a pleading look on his face. He felt that the husband and wife were like grasshoppers on the same rope, and his wife would probably help him to cover up his lies as much as possible.
Mrs. Wang looked at the treasure banknotes on the table, and said in shock and anger: "You, who kill a thousand swords, have been greedy for more than one million coins? I have been married to you for so many years, how have I ever enjoyed all kinds of wealth? You are so greedy.
All the money must have been used to raise vixens!"
Qin Hui was stunned and couldn't understand his wife's reaction at all.
In the first half of his life, his wife Wang had always been his think tank. For such a smart and cunning woman, wouldn’t she know that pleading guilty would mean death? Why would he be jealous at this time?
Wang, however, had a mocking look on her face: "Why are you staring so wide? The imperial guards have been dispatched, how can you escape? From the moment the emperor ordered the arrest, you were already dead. What are you wishing for in vain?
Rimeng! Even if you are not greedy, you will still die, otherwise how can the emperor get down the stairs?"
These few words were like a bolt from the blue, making Qin Hui's head buzz.
With his intelligence, he should be able to figure it out. But he was still lucky and unwilling to give up the last glimmer of hope until his wife exposed him.
Wang continued to distance herself from the relationship, and knelt down to the officials of the Sanfa Department on the spot and said: "My lords, it is clear to you that I have been separated from this man for a long time. He will not even let me step into the official residence of the Minister.
Talk to me. I don’t know any of the corrupt and illegal things he did..."